Davis Islands dog beach closing for 6 months for renovations

DAVIS ISLANDS Abbie Leber and her 6-month-old pup Khaos won’t be able to play at the Davis Islands dog beach this summer.

But it’s for a good reason.

The park will be closed for about six months while the city does some maintenance there and at the nearby boat ramp.

“It’ll be nice to have it cleaned up a little bit better,” said Leber, who lives in Riverview.

The dog beach and the ramp will close June 10 and are scheduled to reopen in December, though workers hope to finish sooner, said Greg Bayor, city parks and recreation director.

“That boat ramp is heavily used, so we certainly want to get it back open,” he said.

In addition to some general landscaping and maintenance, workers will clear away some old rocks and concrete that dogs and their owners can’t always see while they’re swimming, Bayor said. The boat ramp will be dredged so boats will no longer scrape along the bottom.

The city is spending $273,082 on the project.

“When we reopen it will be beautiful,” Bayor said.

Carolyn Bigley, co-founder of the non-profit Friends of the Davis Islands Dog Parks, said the group had planned to raise money to clean the beach. Now, she’s grateful for the city’s help.

“It’s going to be fabulous,” she said. “It’s really going to benefit the park.”